Briton fighting for Russia killed in Ukraine

[cariadlet]

I've just read about the young man who died fighting for Russia and find it really hard to understand why he went out there. The report didn't go into his motives.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0zry1zk9go

I can understand why someone who is idealistic but also wanting adventure or is ex military might want to go out and fight for a perceived underdog or against terrorists or aggressive countries who have invaded their neighbours.

Britons have gone out to fight for Ukraine. Before that, some Britons went to the Middle East to fight against ISIS. Going further back, so many foreigners wanted to join the Spanish Civil War that an International Brigade was formed. All of that makes sense to me.

But I can't fathom why someone would want to go and fight for Russia. Does anyone have any insight?

Probably bought into Russia's completely misleading propaganda about it being some sort of anti-woke, egalitarian utopia.

Plenty of westerners have relocated there after being taken in by it. They get there, find out it's nothing of the sort, and that as foreigners they are not entitled to much, if any help from the State, so they effectively become wage-slaves trapped in miserable conditions, and in a country which is largely hostile to most outsiders regardless of the colour of their skin.

Then there are those who also swallow the "Ukraine is a fascist state" stuff, go there to sign up to fight the "fascists", promptly have their passports removed, and find out they are nothing more than fodder for unsupported, under-resourced infantry attacks since Russia's armour support has been more or less totally annihilated. Their airforce can't fly over combat zones, and any individual soldier spotted in the open is immediately set upon by drones, so even if you are fortunate to survive getting yourself to the frontline, it's likely that sooner rather than later one of your "comrades" is going to kill you anyway either for rations, or because you are displaying a little bit too much zeal and enthusiasm.

FAFO.

That sounds about right. I'd forgotten about the anti-woke westerners going to live in Russia. I'd watched a report about some Americans moving to Russia and then regretting it.

He has pretty slavic features. I'd guess he has family connections to Russia.

I think it’s a desire of being anti-establishment…just go against whatever the majority thinks. Or he bought into conspiracy theories how the West and Ukraine have secret pacts and the media makes propaganda against Putin, bla bla

There are also just plain old mercenaries who will fight for anyone willing to pay them. I don't believe the Russian military is at that point just yet, but there are Putin-aligned paramilitary groups within Russia who absolutely will recruit anyone willing.

Don’t you think that would have been mentioned in the news article- it would be quite a significant omission if true.
It almost sounds to me like an act of slow suicide.

The Russian military has definitely been recruiting from abroad - exploiting poverty in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. I've seen a few things about it recently. And of course, the poor sods who are conned into going are treated like cannon fodder - which isn't surprising as Putin doesn't seem to treat Russian men any better.

It surprised me that someone from Britain, who presumably isn't in such dire straits, would have fought for Russia.

s
YouTube clip is from BBC News and is about Africans being lured to fight for Russia.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce9yv4gmn9lo

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-68366861

I think his head was so large that it disrupted his senses.

A waste of a life. RIP

The Russian military has definitely been recruiting from abroad - exploiting poverty in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. I've seen a few things about it recently

Yes, but those are not the professional mercenaries I was referring to earlier.

Russia's military is hardly alone in recruiting from impoverished foreign territories and nations. It's common to most of the world's large standing militaries, including the UK's. There are an inordinate number of people from one specific island serving in the Royal Navy, South Sea Islanders and Africans in the Army, Fiji Regiment, Ghurkas etc etc. US Marine Corps does something similar recruiting from the likes of Puerto Rico.

It's not even a new thing for Russia, because for much of the Cold War many of the Soviet regiments stationed in the European Soviet Union consisted of largely Asian Russians. Two things - Asian people tend to be smaller in stature, so they fit into smaller, tighter ergonomics of Soviet AFV's quite well, and secondly, The Eastern Bloc was never quite certain that the propaganda and indoctrination would really wash when they were asking European Russians to go and fight other Europeans (this is why the East German Army would never have been deployed as an offensive force in Europe), whereas it was considered a safer bet to indoctrinate, pay, feed, and equip Asian Russians to do the job instead.

On Newsnight just now, they said the average Russian soldier lasts 20 to 30 minutes, on average, on the front line. I suspect anyone signing up to support Russia is either naive and like some who travelled to Syria to support Islamic State. Or basically white nationalist racists.

Russian troops survive just 20-30 minutes on Ukraine’s front lines, CIA director says share.google/GGlnNz8NvzRzpxxtR

Now both sides are committing war crimes (deliberately targeting citizens on the beach, for example), it’s all going to get a lot nastier.